Some thoughts from a trip just concluded to Spain, and thinking also of the devastating fires in Australia. (The picture left is of storm clouds over Ronda, which we visited – yes, EasyJet CO2 – in Southern Spain last week, which is seeing the heaviest and longest-lasting rainfall in a very long time. Very odd, … Read more …
Very thoughtful reply – to which I shall also reply shortly – on climate change from the Grande Dame (sorry M-J – you’re not Grande at all, but very influential…) of Climate Change psychology, Mary-Jayne Rust. (Picture here is this time of the most gorgeous hoarfrosted spider’s web seen this month in the Cotswolds.) “I … Read more …
It’s a beautiful world… Trees, left, in Northumberland. But it’s a world we must not take for granted. German friends of mine, now in their early 60s, wrote in their Christmas letter of asking some older fellow countrymen what it was like in the late 1930s when everyone knew disaster was looming. “We just got … Read more …
Time, perhaps, to start adding some new thoughts, as we nearly enter 2009. First, although not sure whether and who will be following this, beware indeed the power of parental example. Picture left is of 21-year-old daughter Katharine (Katie to her friends, the full version to her Dad) packed up and ready to head to … Read more …
So – home at last. This final blog needed to wait a few days since, as computers do, my mainframe took one look at me after three months away, 10kg the lighter and as fit as I’ve ever been, allowed me briefly to copy all my pictures off the camera on to the hard drive, … Read more …
And I couldn’t resist either a further almost-final shot, taken in Little Venice in Central London today, of Raven’s Brooks B17 leather seat after 4000 miles of intimate massage… It looks, and feels, a whole lot more comfortable than when I set out at Easter. Cycling into London from the English South-East, I have to … Read more …
My name is Mark Brayne and I am a Blogger. An addict, clearly. But Dorie said she’d appreciate some final, final thoughts, so, unable to resist another tipple, here’s a first batch. Climate Change. Take a deep breath. The picture illustrates, from Dunkirk, the quandary we’re in. Oil refinery in the background – the real … Read more …
As I cross the Channel from Dunkirk to Dover on my conclusive way home, this probably will be my last substantive blog post (though I might be tempted to indulge once more on climate change) . Pic of Raven to illustrate, with rather bleak Dunkirk terminal and appropriately-named Norfolk Lines ferry (Norfolk being my home … Read more …
On my last evening in Europe – well, on the European mainland, anyway – I could post some pretty pictures of Bruges, which is indeed Very Pretty, and say, Dear Belgium, all is forgiven. But I won’t, as all isn’t. To the bitter end, Belgium’s road surfaces were s**t, often consisting (see pic) of lumpy … Read more …
I’m afraid Belgium – and roads/cycle tracks/pleasure-at-being-in – isn’t getting any better. The rain doesn’t help. The view above is of beautiful, tourist-magnet Gent this afternoon and the charming square in front of the cathedral here. Drenched, and as seen from a café to which I have repaired for some waffles en route from Brussels … Read more …